As per immigration law, Absconding is a criminal offense and is punishable by 6 months jail terms or 2 thousand Riyals penalty and deportation. It is an obligation for an employer or company to report to the police within 24 hours after the worker has absconded.

Likewise, harboring and transporting (riding a vehicle with) an absconder is also a criminal offense and is punishable by 6 months jail terms and 10 thousand Saudi riyals penalty per person (absconder) and deportation.

As per Saudi labor law, it is illegal for an employer or company to employ an absconder.Most of these undocumented workers were the ones who abscond from their sponsors (orginal employer).

And the main reasons for the delay of their repatriation or deportation are the following

it is hard to look for their employer would issue NOCs (No Objection certificates) which is one requirement of the jawasat

Deportation Fees like the payment to clear absconding records, penalty for the non renewed iqama, the fees for medical insurance which is a requirement renew an iqama and plane ticket.

to check if the worker has no police records which takes a long time specially if the worker’s original location is not the same place where he was caught by the authorities.

Note: point number 2 is only required for those workers who has requests to the Saudi Governor’s Office or from the Philippine embassy who want to be deported without going to deportation jail. Those who are caught by the authorities and detained in deportation jail will not be asked to pay for the penalties but may take longer time to repatriate.

Freelance visa

There is no such term as a freelance visa.. yet the word freelancer is a popular term used by those migrant workers who only purchase a visa from a saudi sponsor and this migrant worker will work for his own or look for another employer. this is illegal because as per the saudi labor law, a migrant worker must only work for his / her sponsor. Both the sponsor and the migrant worker and even the person or company who employs these so called freelancers violate the saudi labor law.

Most of these sponsors dont have a company of their own, they only sell these visas and will renew their yearly iqama fees for a corresponsing amount that must be paid by the migrnat workers. The sponsor will ask also ask for yearly fees that must be paid by the migrant worker.

Most of these so called freelancers do not work for other sponsors but they owned businesses… The punishment for employing or for working to an employer who is not sponsor is 10 thousand saudi riyals and deportation of the worker.

Some distressed workers who became undocumented were these so called freelancers whose sponsors would not process the workers yearly iqama renewal anymore.. it happened when the relationship of the sponsor and the worker ay hinid na maganda.. or those sponsors were already caught by the authorities kaya hindi na sya makarenew ng iqama ng worker.. or those freelancers who have no direct contact with their sponsors but through another person as bridge… Some sponsors also have reported that the worker absconded without the knowledge of the freelancer…

Dependent visas

It is a privilege for some categories of migrant workers to bring their families to Saudi Arabia as their dependents. Yet it is clear in the Saudi labor law and the immigration law that it is illegal for the dependents to work for any employer or companies.. because their direct sponsors are their spouses and not an employer or company.

The punishment for this is 10 thousand Saudi riyal penalty to those companies or employer or the spouse (direct sponsor) plus deportation of the spouse and his whole family.

Hiring and Contract violations

Unlike the first three problems above, some workers were already victims of abuses when they were hired and contracted.. They were deceived and have signed a contract for an employer or company that is not their sponsor (visa). These are the most likely to become victims of contract substitution because they will made to sign an another contract when they arrive in Saudi Arabia. They cannot use their original contracts that was signed in the Philippines even if it is written in arabic because the employer’s name or the company name in that contract is not their original sponsor’s name.. The original sponsor is the one in their new contract.

Another contract violation during hiring and contracting.. are for employers or companies who want to hire workers but cant provide working visas. These are caused by wrong implementation of polo verification of employment visas and contracts, or by the agency for issuing a reprocessed contract, or by the POEA for not reviewing the contract and visa carefully and the immigration officer at the airport.

Rights are not protected.

– The rights of the absconders against labor abuses are not protected.. They are always subject to abuses from employers because these workers cannot file labor cases against their employers since the latter are not their original sponsors. The workers are also not protected by the cooperative health insurance law and the social insurance law.
Crackdown ?

Last february, Saudi Labor Minister Adel al Fakieh, issued a statement that undocumented workers or absconders can leave the kingdom without paying the penalty. Many migrant workers had inquired with their embassies and consulates because they wanted to grab the opportunity to be repatriated. It turned out that the statement was just a proposal by the minister. It takes not only the ministry of labor to decide on that but it must be dediced by the ministry of interior and the jawasat. Second, the penalty is not the main problem for repatriating an undocumented worker but the No Objection Letter from the employer… One thing is clear here there are many workers who want to go home… (Note: Ang No Objection Letter also known as NOC ay para lamang mga undocumented migrants. Ito yong letter ng employer na nagpahiwatig na wala syang pagtutol sa pagparepatriate ng worker. Iba ito sa NOC noon para sa lahat ng migrants documented man or hindi. Noon, sa wala pa yong bagong Saudi Labor Law, hindi makakabalik ang migrant worker kung wala syang NOC galing kanyang dating sponsor na nagpahiwatig na wala itong pagtutol kung babalik ito at magtrabaho ulit sa Saudi)

Last week, it was mentioned in the news that there is a crackdown of undocumented migrant workers. To us it is not a crackdown but a strong implementation of the law.. Mayroon namang hulihan na nangyari even before.. kaya nga palaging may laman ang ang mga deportation jails at puno ang mga ito. It is also not true yong report na hindi pwedeng mabisita ang deportation jails, dahil tayo sa patnubay ay bibisita naman doon sa mga kaso natin para magdala ng pera at kumot or damit sa kaso natin na nakakulong sa deportation.
Why this strong implementation of getting rid of undocumented workers?

dear ka lito,
nope, it should not be like that because an employer can not file an absconding case against a worker if nasa red or yellow sila..
in fact we have many cases na expired ang iqama dahil hindi marenew at hindi mapaexit ang workers ng employer.. and we handled their case because our polo does not know the processes…. napauwi naman natin ng maayos.. sa pamagitan ng pagpaliwanag both sa employer at workers sa proceso..

Maraming salamat sa information and clarification… How about those workers whose employment contract and IQAMA has expired and their employer are classified as either RED or YELLOW. I understand the employer cannot renew the iqama and obtain exit -re entry visa.

What is the estimate of Filipino workers in this situation. Can they be included among those with expired visa and could be arrested if discovered during random inspections outside and inside their offices and accommodation?
How many of them are still in Saudi Arabia. Can they still apply to work in Green companies even after the government set
DEADLINE?

We at the Ople Center would like to help our government and the Philippine Embassy and fellow advocates in an information campaign regarding the crackdown in KSA.

Please find attached a briefer drafted by yours truly based on inputs from fellow advocates particularly Jun Aguilar, Joseph Espiritu and Ka Lito Soriano as well as based on the advisories issued by the Philippine Embassy and Philippine Consulate-General.

May I solicit your valuable opinion on the contents of this briefer as well as suggestions on how to further improve it? I am sure that there are more questions that deserve to be included and answered in the briefer. Once the briefer is finalized, we will upload it on our website and promote it via social media. For Tas, Jun, Lito, and Alex – please feel free to include in your responses the contact details & logos of your respective organizations in case you would also like the workers to get in touch with you.

2. Totoo na may session ang shoura council last sunday at 3rd (out of 8) agenda yong amendment of Article 39 and abolition of article 233 of the saudi labor law.

Committee on administrative and human resources affairs, point of view regarding members’ opinions on the request to amend Article (39) and the abolition of Article (233) of the Labor law, and the draft rules dealing
with the arrivals of violators of regulations. –

(1) Unless he has followed the stipulated legal rules and procedures, an employer may not allow his worker to work for others, and a worker may not work for other employers. Similarly, an employer may not employ workers of other employers.
(2) An employer may not allow a worker to work for his own account and a worker may not work for his own account.

What is Article 233 of the Saudi Labor Law?

Article (233):

Violators of the provision of Article (39) of this Law shall be subject to a fine of not less than five thousand riyals and not more than twenty thousand riyals, and the fine shall be multiplied by the number of persons
subject of the violation. The worker shall be repatriated at the expense of the person who employs him.

The government should get a certified/authenticated English translation of the new law.

*Atty. Francisco S. de Guzman*

——————————
*Subject:*

ARAB NEWS

Monday 10 September 2012

Last Update 7 October 2012 12:47 pm

JEDDAH: The Shoura Council yesterday passed a law banning expatriates from working for companies and individuals other than their employers or sponsors.

Punitive action would be taken against Saudi sponsors and companies who allow foreigners to work for other employers, the new law said.

The Shoura also passed a draft law that incriminates those who employ visa violators or leave their employees to work on their own or for others or use the workers of other sponsors. Violators face jail sentences not more than five years.

The Shoura decisions augur well with the Labor Ministry’s efforts to regulate job market and create more employment opportunities for Saudis. It also supports the government’s move to crack down on coverup businesses.

The consultative body approved a draft law with 14 articles to deal with expatriates who violate the Kingdom’s regulations including those who overstay Haj and Umrah visas.

“Security agencies shall arrest those who employ expatriates who violate Saudi law as well as those who allow their employees to work for their personal accounts,” the new law said.

According to the draft law, police can arrest those who hide, shelter or transport violators or provide them with any form of assistance as well as those who did not inform authorities about the delay in departure of people whom they brought. “The violators who came on Haj, Umrah and visit visas (and working for individuals and companies) would be deported at the expense of those who employ them,” the law said.

According to the amended Article 39 of the Saudi Labor Law, “An employer is not allowed to leave his employee to work for others, while an employee is not allowed to work for another employer, without following the necessary procedures.”

The Labor Ministry inspectors shall visit companies and institutions to find out violators of the law and hand them over to the Interior Ministry for action. The Shoura agreed to abolish Article 233 of the Labor Law that includes punishment to those who violate Article 39.